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a starks choice: Play rather than watch PLAYER PROFILE
Bradley Starks making the switch to wide receiver
Date published: 4/22/2008
BY TAFT COGHILL JR. MORGANTOWN, W.Va.-- When West Virginia first-year head coach Bill Stewart realized quarterback Bradley Starks could help the Mountaineers at wide receiver, he was straightforward with the former Orange High School star.The move is often a difficult one for quarterbacks to deal with mentally, but Stewart was more concerned about getting one of his best athletes on the field when he asked the redshirt freshman to make wide receiver his primary position this season. "I said, 'Bradley, I recruited you, and I'm not going to ever be anything but straight with you,'" Stewart recalled. "I said, 'Right now, you're going to stand over on the sideline and be a [third-string quarterback]. Do you feel like watching all next year?'" Still a quarterback, too Starks has never been one to watch from the sidelines. He was a two-time Free Lance-Star Male Athlete of the Year, while starring in football, basketball and track and field at Orange. But at West Virginia, senior star quarterback Pat White is entrenched in the position, having been named the Big East Conference's offensive player of the year the past two seasons. White's backup, Jarrett Brown, also has considerable experience. Stewart said because White works hard every day and is a "fierce, fierce competitor," there's no chance for another quarterback to see the field unless he's injured. He also said Brown "is a clear No. 2." Stewart shared the same advice with Starks that he gave a former West Virginia quarterback, who transferred to a Division I-AA school because there was no opportunity for playing time. That quarterback told Stewart, "All I want is a chance." "I said, 'You've got no chance to get a chance. I'm not going to take Patrick White off the field,'" Stewart said. Starks' goal is to become a college quarterback, so he pondered Stewart and offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen's suggestion before he accepted the opportunity at receiver. He did so knowing he'll continue to fight for the No. 3 quarterback job with Charlie Russell in the fall, and after White departs, he'll battle for the starting job. He'll also play quarterback when players organize their own passing league this summer and he'll attend quarterback meetings in the fall, while also learning his new position. Simply put: Starks is still a quarterback.
Date published: 4/22/2008
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